This application claims priority to German patent application number 101 41 845.0 filed Aug. 27, 2001.
The invention relates to a sliding roof system for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one cover part, a cover support to which the cover part is mounted, a guide rail on which a hook-out slot is provided and a carriage which can be shifted in the guide rail, an adjustment slot being provided on the carriage and engaged by a hook-out pin which is mounted to the cover support, the hook-out pin also engaging in the hook-out slot.
Such a sliding roof system is known from European Patent EP 0 693 996. In this known system, the hook-out pin mounted to the cover support is associated to the front edge of the cover part, as seen in the direction of travel. Provided on a second cover support, which is mounted to said cover part approximately in the middle thereof, is a second slot which is engaged by a pin mounted to the carriage. The position of the cover part results on the one hand from the position of the hook-out pin in relation to the carriage, this position being determined by the point of intersection between the adjustment slot on the carriage and the hook-out slot in the guide rail, and results on the other hand from the position of the pin on the carriage in the slot of the second cover support.
A disadvantage of this system is, for one thing, that the carriage is comparably long. For reasons of stability, there has to be a specific minimum distance between the hook-out pin on the first cover support and the pin on the carriage, which engages in the second cover support. As both the hook-out pin on the first cover support and the slot in the second cover support cooperate with the carriage, the latter must have an appropriately large length as a consequence. Secondly, it is a disadvantage that the use of two slotted guides, by means of which the two cover parts are connected with the carriage, requires in combination with the hook-out slot formed in the guide rail to keep to particularly narrow tolerances if on the one hand jamming of the entire mechanism and, on the other, a generation of noise by rattling are to be prevented.
It is the object of the invention to further develop the known sliding roof system to the effect that a shorter overall length can be achieved together with lower demands to the tolerances that have to be kept to.
According to the invention, a sliding roof system for a motor vehicle comprises at least one cover part and a cover support to which the cover part is mounted. The system further comprises a guide rail on which a hook-out slot is provided and a carriage which can be shifted in the guide rail. An adjustment slot is provided on the carriage and is engaged by a hook-out pin which is mounted to the cover support. The hook-out pin also engages in the hook-out slot. A guide slot is provided on the guide rail and a guide pin is provided on the cover support, the guide pin gliding in the guide slot. With this design, one single slotted guide is used between the cover part and the carriage, i.e. the slotted guide made up of the adjustment slot and the hook-out pin. This connection between the carriage and the cover support preferably lies in the region of the rear edge of the cover part. The second connection between the cover support and the guide rail is ensured by the guide slot in the guide rail, which is engaged by the guide pin on the cover support. For achieving maximum stability, the guide pin may be arranged on the cover support outside the cover part in front of the front edge thereof. This is possible without any problems and without the need of configuring the carriage with a corresponding length, because in the design according to the invention the second point of connection between cover support and guide rail does not cooperate with the carriage. The requirements on the tolerances that have to be kept to are comparably small. The cover support itself does not comprise a slot whatsoever. The two pins provided on the cover support, namely the hook-out pin and the guide pin, can be precisely positioned relative to each other without great problems. The two slots provided in the guide rail, namely the hook-out slot and the guide slot, may likewise be precisely positioned relative to each other without great problems since they are provided on one and the same component.
Advantageous designs of the invention will be apparent from the subclaims.